


Dawn

by mari_aye



Category: Porn grenade brigade
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Attempt at Humor, Crack Treated Seriously, Dorms, Fluff and Crack, Historical References, How Do I Tag, I Don't Even Know, Mystery, Other, Suspense, Ugh, What Was I Thinking?, Wrote this on a whim, i hate this, i think, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:34:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23526976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mari_aye/pseuds/mari_aye
Summary: "Something hides beneathe us all, something none of us has ever seen.  Explore what is left of this place, and uncover what i have left for you. I know now it is probably too late for me to give you direct instructions, but i trust you all are more than capable to do it."
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	1. 01

**Author's Note:**

> bear with me gang, this is the first time ive ever taken my writing to this level.

Kyra

You take one last cold swig of your compressed, visually stunted cola can before eyeing the trashcan and tossing the empty can into it.  
Perfect landing.

After mentally winning the Olympics at Cola Can Throwing, you check your phone again; you had taken a photo of the dorm assignment chart- just in case- and made sure to separately crop the address written at the very bottom of it. You had attached the address in Google Maps and started to walk all the way to your new dorm. You had been walking for about two minutes before you noticed a small café with a chalkboard sign claiming the donuts are on a ‘buy one, get one free’ offer- and like the hungry midget you are, you decided to stop by. The donuts were delicious, so you don’t regret the decision one bit, but now you have to actually walk to your dorm and meet people you’re going to be stuck with for the next four years.

You open the Maps application and resume your pursuit. The voice concludes that from the café you’re currently sitting in, it was take about a five minute walk before you’d reach the building you’re supposed to live in. It would roughly take about an under ten minute walk from your university to your dorm if you didn’t stop by at the café.

Grabbing the book you were currently reading, your white messenger bag and your half-eaten chocolate-stuffed donut, you venture outside the café, a sweet tune playing from your earphones.

You stop in your tracks and look at the building to your right expectedly. This should be the building the address leads to, since the annoying voice of the application ruined a perfectly good song.

The building itself looks relatively new; the beige paint is fresh, the white covering on the window frames isn’t worn out like the other buildings and the glass doors don’t seem faded or scratched up.

You recheck your room number when you see a woman (probably in her 30s?) sitting at the table near the elevator. ‘It’s probably the only time you’ll ever see her so you shouldn’t worry about making a fool of yourself’, your conscience tells you. You push the glass doors open, entering into the cool, air conditioned building- a refreshing temperature drop.  
You approach the receptionist, and she asks you your name, disinterestedly. She then flips through a register, mumbling ‘Kyra... Kyra... Kyra-’ as she finally finds your name and you nod in confirmation. She then rummaged through a small box, and retrieves a key with a label honing the number ten.

“Room number ten, floor number one.” She informs you and you handle the key as if it’s a rare piece of stone. “It’s not fragile, you know.” She snorts and you feel your face heat up, embarrassed. You pocket the key silently. You thank her and approach the elevator. After waiting a few seconds for it to descend, the elevator doors open, you step inside and press the ‘01’ button.

You shouldn’t feel nervous, but you are. You hear muffled voices through the walls of the building. Excitement is obviously there, but also a nagging feeling of ‘what if my roommates end up being loud and obnoxious, and don’t let me study and trash the apartment and constantly get into trouble and-‘

You jump three feet in the air when you hear an unholy screech. One of the voices had amplified quite a lot. ‘No, wait- that’s someone... singing?’ You pause and listen intently. ‘Oh, are you kidding me-‘

“Sa mina mina! Eh eh! Waka waka, Arul’s gay! Sa mina mina san gare wa-“

“Kia if you don’t shut up-! “And the momentary chaos broke there. You stand there, confused and- to be honest- kind of scared. That talk definitely belonged to some thirteen year old who had just discovered the internet.

The elevator doors open and you enter the floor. You look at the first two door numbers: ‘01’ and ‘02’- wait, the last time you checked, room number 10 was the most number of rooms this building had- you continue exploring the floor anyway.

Oh wait.  
Room number 10 is here after all.

You take a deep breath, puffing out your chest, and then you deflate, almost comically. You unlock the door and open it.

The apartment itself looks pretty huge at first sight: the living room is spacey and cozy, the creases on the couch indicating someone recently sat here. Facing the couch is a modestly sized TV. At one corner of the room, a small, wooden shelf is placed- empty at the moment. It takes you a moment but you also realize that there are small fairy lights hanging from the ceiling, almost hidden in the light of the florescent tube lights. To your left, a small hallway houses five doors. Two of those doors are open. To your right there is a small shoe shelf; it already contains two pairs.

You snap out of your trance and realize someone else settled here before you and you entered the apartment without them knowing. You weakly rap your knuckles on the front door behind you. ‘Hello? Is anyone here?’ you ask unsurely into the seemingly empty apartment. The silence is broken by a soft thud and a surprised squeak. 

“Err- yes! I’m here.” Someone emerges from one of the opened doors. She is shorter than you, fit and has long, wavy, hazel hair tied up in a ponytail. She was wearing a black, baggy long sleeved shirt, with light denim shorts.

Her sheepish smile quickly dissolves into one of uncertainty. “I thought I only had one roommate.” It almost sounds like a question. Your brain momentarily panics, but then you realize something.

“I mean- the receptionist gave me the key according to the official register,” you say, “so it couldn’t have been wrong, right?” You add the last word silently.

The girl relaxes. “True- no wonder there are three bedrooms! And a third box- ugh I’m an idiot.” She slaps her forehead in realization. Her lips break out into a sunny smile.  
“Sorry ‘bout that- I’m Heba.” She extends a hand out.

“Nah, it’s no problem. I’m Kyra.” You return the smile and clasp her hand, shaking it firmly. “So, who’s this mystery third roommate?” You joke. She turns around and calls out, “Angelea!”

There was a pause, and then- “Yeah?” A distant voice speaks.

“Meet the third roomie!”

“Wait- third? Wait- gimme a sec.”

“She seems busy.” You say.

“Yeah- she wanted to get done with the unpacking early. I decided to lay it off for a bit, I was tired.” You hum in understanding and approach your own box, the big words spelling out your name in black marker.

“Hey, do you have a pair of scissors or something?”

“Here.”

“Thanks.”

“Anytime.”

You open the box, finding your familiars and checking if everything was still there. You ask where your room is and head inside.

‘Not bad.’ You mutter to yourself as you look around. It was a modest, comfortable looking room, enough space for your stuff, but not too spacey. You check the bed and mattress and find out it squeaks a little. ‘No problem.’

You start unpacking into your room.

Finally, you plop yourself onto the newly sheeted mattress. You managed to set and decorate your room, with a little help from Heba and sometimes Angelea. Your lower back aches a little due to how long you were standing. You take a deep breath. ‘This is my life now.’ It’s not like it’s uncomfortable or anything, it’s just slightly overwhelming because living independently is something that every student looks forward to. There are now jobs, assignments, even more intense tests, rents to pay. 

Your approaching existential crisis is interrupted by Angelea, who appears through the open door. “You need anything?” You only now realize you’ve only eaten two donuts in the entire day.

“Lunch would be great.”

Angelea beams.

You were lounging on the couch with the two girls, the TV displaying an anime- a favorite all three of you shared. The three of you had just finished devouring your takeaway Subways, now chatting idly. It was probably the most comfortable you’ve been in the past few days- nerve wracking waits of university acceptance forms, textbooks, subjects and moving had taken a lot out of you. It was nice to sit back for a day or two, relax in the calm before the storm.

“Have you guys met the others?” Angelea piped up.

“The others?” Heba questions.

“Yeah, the other people living here.”

“You’ve already met them?” You ask.

“They’re wild.” Angelea chuckles.

“I’ve done all I needed to do, so I’m in.” You walk to the kitchen to drink a glass of water. You hear Heba hum in approval.

“Nice.” Angelea stands up and stretches, hissing. “Strap yourselves in, girls. It’s gonna be a bumpy ride. But lemme first introduce you to Kayla and Luna.”


	2. The Elevator

Luna:

“Kayla! Where’d you keep the pizza bombs?!” You call out behind you, reopening the fridge once more as if they’d magically re-appear. You start to play with the fridge door haphazardly, all the cool air departing.

Kayla had declared majestically that her mum made a huge box’s fill of pizza bombs. You tasted one, not really knowing what to expect since you’ve never savoured one before.

It turned out, as the little ball of joy ruptured in your mouth, it tasted precisely like a typical cheesy pizza- but spicier, cheesier and just tastier- the only difference is that you enjoy the entire slice in just one bite. You could feel yourself ascending and ever since your first taste, you’ve been bugging your roommate every minute for the recipe.

The dochebag wouldn’t tell you. Says it’s her mum’s ‘secret recipe’.

“Secret recipe _my ass_. I just wanna know how you made ‘em!” You had pouted one day.

The two of you had shown up in dorms first out of all students- and now appreciate that the last few people will be arriving today.

You have no clue which rooms are ‘student-less’, but you do know that one student out of the batch isn’t due here till next week. Whatever reason it was, you’re sure it must’ve been a reasonable one for the university to give the student a week's leave.

You still felt bad for the student- a week’s worth of work is no joke. In high school, it might’ve been, but this is a university.

“They’re in the microwave!” You didn’t even realize you spaced out until you hear Kayla’s slightly muffled voice through the room.

You go check the idle microwave, and sure enough, a plate consisting of at least four or five of those joy bombs is resting there, peacefully awaiting its demise. You hold the plate as if you’re cradling it and bring a pizza bomb to your mouth.

“You’ll share with me, you ditto!” Kayla’s voice again emerges from the other room. Sighing in defeat, you march towards said megaphone’s room and find her splayed like a star across her bed, her wavy hair spread out beneath her.

“Backache didn’t say goodbye?” You ask in response to her pained face.

“It’s much better now that I’ve taken my painkillers,” Kayla replies, swiftly stuffing her mouth with a pizza bomb. You drop onto the bed next to her and resume dining.

“So, since uni is starting the day after tomorrow, what’s your plan?” You ask with your mouth full. Kayla scrunches up her nose in distaste.

“Well, I heard some ruckus going on next door. Maybe Angie’s found company.” She shrugs, at least having the civility to talk after she swallowed.

Right on cue, there is a knock at the door. “Coming!” You sing, jumping off the bed.

“Oh! Angie, we were just talking about you.” You greet Angie with a hug.

“In what manner?” Angie jokes.

“Just mentioning.” You both fall into silent chuckles.

“Hey Luna,” She greets back, “meet my roommates.” She gestures to two girls behind her, both of them waving awkwardly.

“’ Roommates’?” Emphasis on the ‘s’, you hear Kayla from the room, this time it seems like she’s limping towards you. You usher them all in, and in offering them some refreshments, you head to the small kitchen.

“Woah, what happened to you, grandma?” You hear Angie laugh as you pour in the drinks and plate a few pizza bombs- they deserve heaven.

“Slept weird,” Kayla says sheepishly and Angie hums in understanding. You exit the kitchen and set the tray down on the small coffee table.

“Anyway, this is Kyra and Heba,” Angie says.

“I’m Kyra.” The slightly taller of the two raised her hand: her dark brown hair fell to her chest, her smile bright.

“Heba.” The other girl had wavy, walnut brown hair tied in a ponytail, a lazy smile and lidded eyes.

“Nice to meet you, girls. I’m Kayla and this is Martha Dumptruck.”

“Oye!” You smack her light up the head. “I’m Luna- she’s just a woman with a broken back, don’t mind her.”

“Luna Dawn, you wound me.” Kayla feigns. The following reactions are immediate.

You were about to relax into your seat but now you’re sitting upright, half-glaring at Kayla, a nervous smile playing at your lips.

Angelea, Heba and Kyra wore surprised albeit confused expressions.

Heba is the first one to break the pregnant pause, “Luna Dawn? As in the daughter of Hakim Dawn: this university’s headmaster?” She seems unsure and…nervous?

You fall back into your seat. “Yeah, that’s me,” You sigh bitterly, “I was planning on not telling people. It makes them think.” You realize you’re being vague, but thankfully the others seem to understand, nodding their heads.

“So what are your majors?” Kayla pipes a little too loudly. Even with the awkward conversation transition, you’re grateful for the subject diversion.

“I’m majoring in Game Design,” Angie says. You straighten up again, cooing, awed. “You never told us that!”

“Well, you never asked,” Angie says matter-of-factly.

“Next to hers, mine sounds a bit bland. I chose Psychology.” Kyra says, helping herself to a pizza bomb.

“I think everyone’s major is gonna look boring next to fricking Game Design.” Kayla chortles as she takes her glass of mango juice, “I chose English Literature.”

“I chose Mechanical Engineering, which is only slightly less boring.” Heba falls back into the couch, sipping the juice.

“I chose ICT, which is- yeah.” You say simply. “Not bad,” Heba assures. You thank her awkwardly.

“Hey, Kayla?” Kyra is met with a grunt of acknowledgement.

“How’d you make these?” She emphasizes the pizza bomb.

You scoff, “Don’t bother asking, she never tells.”

“H-hey! That makes me sound mean!”

“So why did you never tell me?” You eye her suspiciously. Kayla fell silent.

“You know what? I’ll send ‘em over to you on text.” She hastily grabs her phone from the nearby shelf, “What’re your Instas?”

As you all start exchanging contacts, Angie shifts a little towards you.

“ _So_ , Luna, tell them about Arul and Kia.”

Kayla is heard cackling, “How can you _not_ hear them wrestle like toddlers up there? It’s usually near the window to the abandoned elevator, so the sound, like, echoes throughout the building.” She sinks into her seat and grins evilly, “Sometimes, it makes for _excellent_ blackmail.”

Heba laughs nervously. ”Kayla, the way you say it, it makes it sound like they’re doing the un-mentionables.” Kayla breaks into a fit of laughter.

“’ The un-mentionables’? What are you, a mom?” Angie laughs along, Heba now looking embarrassed. Kayla recovers, now reduced to a fit of giggles.

“Now that you mention it, I have heard some unholy sounds from the elevator. I was scared the building was haunted.” Heba laughs again. You think about it and shivers go down your spine.

“Yeah- like high pitched screams, perhaps?” Angie adds.

“That would be Arul, not Kia. Don’t confuse yourself.” Kayla says with a grin.

“Arul and Kia the moody teenagers here, honestly- It’s never peaceful here.” You say, still not looking up from your phone.

“Kyra, why so quiet?” Kayla asks kindly. Said girl jumps a little.

“O-oh, nothing too serious. I was wondering about this ‘abandoned elevator’.” Kyra asks nervously.

You blink, your surprise shared among the others. “You don’t know?” Kyra shakes her head, unsurely. You rack your head trying to find the right words to describe it, “The centre elevator was like, under maintenance, but the workers gave up after it kept failing to work and stuff. All the apartments in this building have a window to, like, the hull of it.

“You do know this building is more or less like a cylinder, right?” You ask quickly. Kyra nods.

“So it’s basically like a tube in the centre of the building but windows are attached to the sides of it.” You continue. “Whoever came up with the idea of it was probably low on coffee or something. Not sure why the working elevator doesn’t have the windows.” You finish with a shrug, muttering the last part.

“The windows are hella helpful if you wanna shut people like Arul and Kia up. Just open the window and yell and they’ll get the message, hopefully.” Kayla says.

Kyra seems fascinated. “You two never told me?!”

Angie and Heba look sheepish. “Heh, sorry. I thought you found it since we kinda use it a lot.” Heba raises a finger to scratch her cheek nervously.

“I need to see this when we get back,” Kyra says, looking like a child who has just discovered a hidden cabinet in the classroom.

“Meanwhile, I’d like to meet these people who convinced me the building was haunted.” Heba perks up. You stand up and clap your hands.

“Alright! Time to introduce the rookies to Arul and Kia. Beware, you’re probably gonna have half of your brain cells remaining when you walk out of their door.”

“You’re gonna regret this, both of you,” Kayla says, stretching as she, too, gets up.


	3. Sweet News

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this chapter takes place about two weeks after the previous one.

Arul

_Just a little further.._

  
You stretch your hand, doing your best to get closer to the mentos roll under the dresser. It’s dark, but it’s enough to see the little paper wrapped joy. You crouch a little more, pressing yourself against the dresser a little bit more, almost making the dresser topple against the wall. You’re just a milimeter away, you just cant get a grab on it. 

  
_A little_ _further_. Your index finger finally touches the roll, and you can already envision your brain doing a victory dance. You curve your index finger inwards, hooking the mentos roll and rolling it towards you instead. You grin childishly, hopping up with the mentos roll in your hand, elevated above you. You let out a roar of victory that comes out much louder than you’d expected. You woot and spew incoherent yet creative curses. 

  
You hear someone- probably Mary judging by her voice echoing through the elevator shaft- yell right back at you, “Arul, yer too loud!”

You feel petty annoyance bubble in your throat, and you snap back, “Yer mum’s too loud, shut up!” And with an exasperated groan, you hear Mary shut the window.

Another verbal victory- man you’re on a roll today.

Whatever: Mary usually decided to screech (or as she liked to call it, sing) suspiciously close to the window and her voice would most probably echo throughout the building. This is payback.

  
You blow the dust away from the paper packaging, making sure not a speck of filth remains, before you rip it open and pop a mentos in your mouth. Savouring the post-victory mint melt in your mouth, you make your way towards your room, back to the fallen snack box and scattered snacks.

  
You had created a snack box for yourself, where you would store and hide all of your snacks from Kia. You had way too many experiences on the first day alone, where she would hog half of your treasure for herself and it would leave you feeling annoyed and bitter. If your mother had been around here, she’d said to share with you roommate because ‘sharing is caring’. _Well guess what Mum, you’re not here, so I’m free to do whatever the hell I want._

  
You started to buy extra snacks for you to store and not let your self control chip away at them second after second. So you hid them; but the problem was where you would hide them. The shelf was tall enough where not even Kia could reach, but this meant you’d need a chair to safely retreat with the holy box of goodies. More often than not, the box would tip dangerously close to the edge and would risk falling. Today, it actually fell, and you now quickly gather your snacks, carefully arranging them so the lid can easily close without any visible snacks sticking out. 

  
After grabbing the mentos roll and stashing away the box, you return to your university study scheme, and an assignment you’d been given. You realise you might have fun with it since Nuclear Physics was really never the choice you’d expect to be interested in, but here you are, a month and a textbook later, fully engulfed in the absolute thrill of it. Your parents didn’t really care what subject you’d been given (as long as it remained in the realms of engineering of course), since studying at Dawn University, Poland, was probably all that was stuck in their heads. You couldn’t blame them, though. The moment you go back to your home city, opportunities will appear like stars in the sky. Just because you had studied at Dawn. You’re going to shut everyone up, once and for all.

  
The people here weren’t so bad either. A week ago, you and Kia were introduced to Kyra and Heba, the last ones to arrive in dorms. Over the course of the month, you had grown familiar with everyone. They were all assholes, sure, but you suppose they’re not that bad. Kayla had shared pizza bombs too, another win. Mary and Neon rooming was unfair since both of them could cook decently. Rero and Toska were fun to hang around. Arch and Serene could always be heard spewing absolute horrendous conversations- all near the elevator window. Lou, Jas, Moe and Rita were rarely seen, but when they weren’t drowning themselves in university work, they would be great company. Like you said in your head, the people aren’t too bad.

  
“Arul! Arul, Arul!” You jump in you seat, accidentally knocking over your pen holder. You begrudgingly and slowly turn your head to find a cheekily bright Kia in the doorway. Apparently she felt extremely casual today, because she wore a maroon loose top and a pair of white jeans. She’s also holding a massive full sleeved shirt: faded and dark green and the fabric looking relatively light.

You expect she’s here to ask you which one of the two tops look better, but the words toppling out of Kia’s mouth threaten your sanity.

  
“You’re wearing this.” And you stiffen.

  
“ _No_ I’m not.” You slowly get up and take a step back, hazardous.

  
She quickly takes a step forward, “ _Yes_ , you are.” The dangerously mischievous look in her eyes tell you you’re cornered, but you sure aren’t going down without a fight.

  
So cue the next fifteen minutes of you trying to uselessly wrestle Kia as she forces you to change. Another five minutes, and you’re standing in front of the mirror with Kia, as she takes a photo of you. You were convinced that even if she did send it to your friends, you never had any dignity to lose.

  
You’d rather kill yourself than admit it to Kia’s face, but the shirt was actually pretty comfortable, and it didn’t look like shit either. It nicely contrasted with the black skinny jeans you were wearing, and because it was so light, you didn’t feel like boiling either. The only problem is the sleeves- they fall over your hands so they’d get is the way of pretty much everything you’ll do. Either way, you’re going to keep it, and maybe plot something embarrassing for Kia to wear.

  
You go back to your textbook, assuming a peaceful study for a good half an hour before someone else’s voice echoes through the elevator.

  
“Hey, everyone,” Toska and Rero are heard pushing each other at the sill before Rero exclaims, “Watch the news!”

  
“They’re shutting the uni down because of the virus!” The new voice- Neon’s- yells helpfully.

  
“ _Really_ , Neon? I haven’t noticed!” Andy says sarcastically.

  
You realize you’re behind an whatever they’re talking about, and rush to the living room to turn on the TV. But Kia had already beaten you and stood in front of the screen, an arm raised holding the remote.  
Sure enough, as Neon said, all educational institutes are closing down because of the virus, in order to contain it from spreading. You feel relief, joy, and maybe even anxiety as you run back to the elevator, Kia grabbing the sill first and shouting out.

  
“What about our classes?” You glance over the window and see almost half of the windows open and people peering out, talking.

  
“I asked the headmaster, and he said we’ll be having online classes.” Luna said loud enough for everyone to groan in response.

  
“Also, what about the students?” Lou squeezed past Jas in the elevator to ask.

  
“The students who can move back into their families are recommended to do so.” Mary recites from her tablet , leaning haphazardly against the window sill. “Mary you’re too excited.” Neon pulls her back to safety, Mary verbalising an embarrassed pout.

  
“Don’t worry Lou, Jalal told me if you are able to go back home, you may.” Luna voices. A voice emerges from the immediate murmur of annoyance.

  
“Yeah,” Kia remarks bitterly, but amused, “I’m pretty sure we all agreed on never trusting Jalal after he got ‘ _distracted_ ’ at work.”

  
Luna grumbles something as Heba looks down and calls out, “Angie, can you tell Fermin to ask Jalal?”

You suppose Fermin comes in handy in times like this. Being a week late into semester, and yet causing both trouble and miracles by him just simply existing. Angie and Fermin had been moved into a spare apartment on the third floor since the amount of students in the building was no longer an odd number.

  
You hear Angie groan loudly, and retreat from the sill to do as Heba said.

  
“By the way, where’s Arch and Serene in such a desperate time like this?” You call out into the elevator shaft.

  
“Asleep.” Steph replies, amused.

  
“So, now what are we supposed to do?” Farah- or as you all like to call her- Garage pipes. She’s obviously talking about university work.

  
“I dunno, they didn’t say anything about postponing assignments.” Kyra calls out as everyone slowly disperse back to their routines. An awkward silence falls over the elevator.

  
“Mary and I made spicy chicken.” Neon says simply.

  
“I’m in.” You say.

  
“Me too.” Kia says beside you.

  
“I’m comin’ over.” Kyra says. And slowly, more students dispersed and finally, the elevator was empty again.

  
Kia seemed bored. After a while, she suddenly yells again, “M’kay, who wants to be my KFC date?” A few moments later, approving arms appeared through several windows. This only somehow irritated Kia further. “Scratch that, who wants to be my date?” The effect was more immediate: all of the arms disappeared. 

  
“Aaa-haah!” you snigger mockingly as you hear Kia yell undignified and go back to your laptop and assignment, deciding to get done with it.

  
With uni closed off, you think its probably high time everyone hit the markets and get what they need. Toilet paper is obviously not the way to go, since this dorm was kind enough to provide the showers instead. Maybe food items and tissue papers, along with bin bags. You realize you’re thinking like an adult, and pat yourself on the back for it while Kia closes the window looks at you like you stink of rat dung.  
You planned: Finish assignment, turn it in via e-mail, have some spicy chicken, waste time watching anime, and done.

You didn’t expect a lot from Neon and Mary’s apartment. Firstly, you didn’t expect the air conditioner to make their apartment a real life Arctic circle. Secondly, you didn’t expect a lot of people to be there- about a dozen people were there. Finally, you didn’t expect the spicy chicken to be _this_ _good_.

  
Toska answered a bunch of your questions as you watched the movie playing on the screen (not before cooing personally on how adorable you looked in that shirt). Apparently, their apartment’s air conditioner is broken, and can only work on one temperature: very cold. They’ve gotten used to it over the weeks, of course, but you haven’t. The mob of students is here because half of them can’t cook for shit, and really wanted something delicious to devour. The spicy chicken? All Neon and Mary’s work.

  
You pop the last bit of chicken and fries into your mouth before your teeth chatter, concentration betraying the movie. You’ve been shivering for the past hour and now regret wearing Kia’s shirt.

  
“Hey guys, can we please do something ‘bout this cold? My mouth is startin’ to freeze shut.” You pipe.

  
“Don’t get our hopes up.” Kyra retorts and you hear a round of snorts. How dare she.

  
“Yer mum got her hopes up.” You snap weakly, the cold chipping away at your pride.

  
“Oh I am hurt.” Kyra feigns. You mimic her in a high pitched voice.

  
After several minutes of silence as the movie provides white noise, Rero pipes up.

  
“Hey Luna?” She is greeted with a grunt of acknowledgement, Luna’s eyes never tearing away from the screen.

  
“Where’s the actual elevator in the shaft?” At this, Luna provides her full attention to Rero.

  
“W-Why ask me?” She seems nervous? Rero shrugs.

  
“You seem to have good relations with the headmaster.” Now, Rero seems unsure. Luna hums thoughtfully.

  
“I’m pretty sure they took it out since it kept failing.”

  
“Why did it fail in the first place though?” Kayla joins.

  
“Something about the ground underneath the shaft. It couldn’t hold the weight of the elevator.” Luna answers.

  
“Or it could be something else.” Kia jokes. It was only when all eyes of the room were on her, she seemed insecure. “ _What!?”_ She barks.

  
“Hey, the ground isn’t that far from the first window...” Mary trails off, hoping anyone would catch up. Your lips perking in an interested grin. 

  
“Why don’t we see what’s going on down there.”

  
Immediately the atmosphere of the room turned suspenseful and a little hopeful. “But wait,” Kyra cuts in, “first, lets all get done with our work load.”

  
“But that’ll take _forever_!” Toska whines impatiently.

  
“Not if you don’t procrastinate it wont.” Kyra scolds.

  
“So..” Neon trails, not sure what to say.

  
“Same time, next week?” Kia’s question is met with approval.


	4. Aircrafts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neon has her hands full with puppy antics and lucid dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> rich text wasn't being a good kid so I had to live through this chapter without bolding/italicing (?) anything. pls enjoy.

Farah “Neon”

You don’t get paid enough for this. Heck, you don’t get paid at all, even though you undeniably deserve it. You stand up straight; absolutely beat, even though it’s barely three in the afternoon. The living room was a mess, the carpet askew, a few books slipping off the shelves, the couch’s cushions thrown across the room, the indoor vase tipped over, the water from it running onto the carpet, and Lou’s little puppy was still nowhere to be found.

You question why you volunteered to puppy sit Tofu anyway. Lou was out to give her family one last visit before the quarantine would inevitably distance everyone apart. She couldn’t take Tofu with her since her father is allergic to her fur, so she had to leave the little ball of energy behind. She couldn’t give her to Jas, since she had plans with her cousins somewhere, so you opted to take care of her for the time Lou was away.

She had explicitly stated over and over again that taking care of Tofu is a hectic job and asked if you were up to the task. You being cocky waved it off as nothing you can’t handle. You thought maybe Mary had some experience with puppies or dogs since she’s had a variety of pets in her childhood- turns out she’s just as useless as you are in the field. ”Bird care isn’t the same as dog care, Farah”, she awkwardly stated as she slips on her converses, heading out to buy necessities.

‘We’re out of rice,’ you remind yourself, ’I’ll probably text her later once I have this mess sorted out.’

Fast forward a few hours and you’re here, hair tied up in a messy bun to prevent it from tangling in stuff, your slacks already soaking from the seams, your T-shirt painted with ink from when you tried to catch Tofu when your desk had an open ink bottle, ready to re-fill your dying pens.

Tofu was behaving when Lou first brought her in, it wasn’t until half an hour later she left had Tofu started to mess around. It’s been fifteen minutes since you’ve fed her, and you made the decision, like the absolute brilliant professional fool you are, to give her a bath. Now, five minutes into trying to chase her into the bathtub, you’re so close to just giving up.

You glance at the living room, and think, ‘This place used to be clean and tidy a few hours ago,’ you sigh.

You crouch against the couch vigilantly, making sure not to make a sound incase Tofu was indeed hiding there. You peek silently, but no sign of the puppy.

“Yip-” You whirl your head towards the noise. It seemed to come from the empty cardboard boxes in the other corner. You tip-toe over to them, the rattle of an overly excited puppy now evident behind the cardboard walls. For a split second, you see a tuft of cream brown fur, and you take a deep, focused breath and wait. The moment you catch glimpse of another sliver of fur, you lunge yourself onto the boxes, successfully caging the fluffy energy ball into your arms, Tofu yipping happily.

“Ha!” You bark back, as Tofu slobbers you affectionately. “Eugh,” you scrunch your face in disgust,” anyway, ‘s about time you get those puppy locks of yours a wash.”

You hear the door click. Oh no. “Whoa.” Whoops. “Farah! What happen’d here?” Mary’s voice rang out into the bathroom, where you currently finished toweling Tofu up. ‘I forgot to clean the living room up!’ you cringe.

“Tofu did it!” You try to reason. You breathe a sigh of relief when you hear an astounded chortle.

“I’ll help clean up.” You hear the distinct thud of heavy bags hitting the kitchen tiles, “’R you finished with- uh-“, Mary appears in the doorway, her sticking up a little from the hijab’s static. You glance back at Tofu, the silly unicorn towel horn drooping. Mary’s face contorts to one of semi-concern, but mostly amusement.

“-whatever you’ve been doing? Anyway, I brought the rice.” She disappears from the doorway and you hear her opening up shopping bags. Since Tofu was significantly less energetic, you go ahead and placed her on her bed. After giving her one last ruffle, you leave to help Mary sort out the groceries.

While opening up the shopping bags, you notice a strange pattern of chips, chocolate bars, juice boxes and marshmallow bags. You side-eye Mary, who seems to notice.

“I may have gone a little bit overboard with the snacks?” She looked guilty. It was your turn to judge her.

“Mary!” “I know, I know.” She mumbles, defeated.

“You’re gonna finish them all in less than a week.” 

“But at least I’ll share?” It sounded like a question. You forgive and she lights up like a child.

Once you two finish sorting the kitchen out, it was time to tackle the living room. You seem hesitant, planning on putting it off after biting in on a snack, but Mary rolled up her sleeves, approached the fallen vase and advised to ‘just get it over with’. Reluctantly, you start picking up the fallen books and start arranging the shelf.  
Approximately half an hour later, Mary and you lop onto the couch basking in the coolness of the air conditioner and the fragrance of a new scented candle you had unpacked. You’d hate to admit it to your spent muscles, but finally getting stuff done is such a serotonin boost.

You hear Mary chuckle, “You know what I saw on the way back here?”

“’S probably Serene or Tosk trying to break into the elevator again.” You say, running your fingers through your slightly sweaty hair.

“Ding, ding, ding! But it wasn’t just them this time. Kia, too.”

You groan, “Great. A third idiot to save from danger has joined the party.” 

Mary scoffed, “Tell me about it.” A comfortable silence fell between you two. Mary gets up and stretches.

“’M gonna go take a nap. Maybe be productive; complete a project when I’m in the mood.” You flash a thumbs-up at her, choosing to hang around and watch a few episodes of your favorite show.

You both divide your share of snacks, and Mary snorts are the pile of fluff near her room. “Finally fell asleep, huh?”

“Seriously?” You perk up and sure enough, you spot a peaceful, motionless Tofu in her dog bed.

You hoot in relief, “Finally, Jesus Christ,” before returning to your TV series, stuffing some chips in your mouth.

Cold. 

It’s cold. But it isn’t freezing. The cold envelopes your body, every inch of your skin cocooned in a cool, refreshing temperature. It forces you to relax, and you welcome it. You open your eyes- you don’t even realize they were closed- and you are met with water. You know its water because you’re light, floating. It’s dark, but not dark enough so you can make out your surroundings bit by bit.

Two rows of windows each rounded off at the edges, at either side of your vision. The windows allowed a blue-green light, what you assumed to be the water’s light. You crane your head up, and there’s a roof, because you can’t see the water above you. You walk towards your left, towards one of the windows, and you see something in the corner of the window. You can’t see it well from the window you’re at, so you try looking at it from the window next to it. You make out a large triangle- an aircraft wing.

This thing is an aircraft. Submerged in water. Presumably at the ocean bed.

You hear a muffled voice. You turn your head towards the source of the sound, but you couldn’t make out the vague direction of the source- the voice seemed to echo through your head, changing directions. You hold your head, your hair fisting at your floating hair.

“..r.a..”

The world around you spins.

“F…a”

‘Go away.’

“Fa..a..”

‘Shut up.’

“FARAH.” Mary’s voice shakes you awake. When did you fall asleep?

“Good, you’re awake. I swear you sleep like a dead log when you’re on the couch- this thing has magical properties?” She jokes.

You groan and hold your head. ‘What the heck was that?’

“Headache?” Mary asks. You make a noise of affirmation.

“Honestly. I’m never sleeping here again.” You accept the painkillers Mary gives you from the shelf.

“You say that every time. Tell me something new.” She says.

You check the clock above the now closed TV. Six p.m. “My God, how long was I asleep?” Mary made a noise of ignorance. You look at the corner where the living room branched into other rooms, and sit upright.

“Tofu-?” You start.

“Already gave her back to Lou. Tofu kept tryna wake you up.” Mary answers.

“How did I not wake up?” Mary laughs.

“Beats me. You seemed comfortable so I gave her back to Lou as soon as she came back.”

“I had a weird dream, not sure how’d I seem comfortable, honestly.”

“Another one? Let Miss Mary solve your dream sequences.” She sprouts dramatically.

“No need, sire.” You scoff at the indignant face she makes.

“Well, if it somehow makes you feel better, I’ve been having my fair share of strange dreams too.” Her voice didn’t house any amusement, even as a small, weak smile played at her lips while saying so.

“Uni be makin’ us hallucinate, even in dreams. How’s that even possible?” You joke, lightening the mood.

“What’s next? Volcanic submarines?” Mary chimes in. You feel hungry, craving something spicy, but savory all the same.

“I want chicken and rice.” You whine.

“Then get your ass over here and help me cook.” You oblige, already imagining the taste of the dish at your tongue.

“Are we giving some to the others?” You ask. A pause, you both give each other significant looks, before bursting out laughing.

“Nah!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was a pain to upload since my main browser is having troubles w ao3 so I had to turn to good ol internet explorer


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